Career paths exploration. From science to chocolate, and back.

Florian Huber

MCAA annual conference, Wien, 24/02/2019

me_datapoint

www.linkedin.com/in/f-huber

Life is foggy…and there is no map.

Florian Huber photo: https://pixabay.com/photos/pirates-sailing-ship-frigate-ship-587988/

Starting pointPhD and postdoc in biological physics

Florian Huber

goal up to 2013: academic career.

Florian Huber

goal 2015: academic career.

Florian Huber

academia

over-specialization

little directly evident impact

very long project cycles

unclear career perspective

missing recognition (hard to understand for ‘outsiders’)

Large jump no. 1 (academia → candy maker)

Florian Huber

academia

over-specialization

little directly evident impact

very long project cycles

unclear career perspective

missing recognition (hard to understand for ‘outsiders’)

sustainable food/food science

| very broad tasks and topics

| measurable impact

| much shorter cycles

| higher recognition (from customers and society)

1) chemistry / biology / soft matter physics 2) the ‘scientific method’

Large jump no. 1 (academia → candy maker)

Florian Huber

Global greenhouse gas emissions

agriculture ~20%

80% of which:animal agriculture

[UN → FAO 2006]

Use of land & resources

Large jump no. 1 (academia → candy maker)

sustainable food/food science

| very broad tasks and topics

| measurable impact

| much shorter cycles

| higher recognition (from customers and society)

Florian Huber

2014/2015: about 2 years of preparations.

2015: founding KÄNDI, renting space, acquiring extra funds, building workshop.

From 2016: full time work for KÄNDI

KÄNDI (becoming an entrepreneur)

Florian Huber

KÄNDI (becoming an entrepreneur)

Florian Huber

KÄNDI (becoming an entrepreneur)

Florian Huber

unclear career perspective

Large jump no. 2 (academia →candy maker → data science)

sustainable food

missing intellectual depth& scientific exchange

little room for idealism

Florian Huber

academia

over-specialization

little directly evident impact

unclear career perspective

missing recognition

Large jump no. 2 (academia →candy maker → data science)

sustainable food

missing intellectual depth& scientific exchange

little room for idealism

Florian Huber

academia

over-specialization

little directly evident impact

unclear career perspective

missing recognition

Large jump no. 2 (academia →candy maker → data science)

sustainable food

missing intellectual depth& scientific exchange

little room for idealism

| yes (if combined with blogging etc.)

| many attractive options

| broad range of topics

| scientific environment

| scientific & open science idealism

data science

Florian Huber

from 2017: training in machine learning & AI*.

Xmas 2017: decision to stop with KÄNDI

2018: re-orientation, networking, job applications, training to deepen machine learning & programming skills

09/2018: start at Netherlands eScience Center.

* my former research work included a lot of programming already.

eScience Center (becoming a data scientist)

Florian Huber

Large jump no. 2 (candy maker → data science)

Florian Huber

• Curiosity and being self-drivenLearn new skills, enter new fields, quickly develop expertise in new areas.

• Outreach skillsPresenting, communicating to non-expert crowd, engage people using different media, visualization skills, …

• Goal-driven project planning

• CollaborativeKnowing (and accepting own weak points), deal with different approaches, …

Transferable skills

• Data science / statistics

• Programming skills

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Make the map less foggy.

Talk to many people of different backgrounds and opinions.

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Make the map less foggy.

Talk to many people of different backgrounds and opinions.

Make a few small steps before you make a jump.

You can make jumps, but only few. Prepare them well.

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Make the map less foggy.

Talk to many people of different backgrounds and opinions.

Make a few small steps before you make a jump.

You can make jumps, but only few. Prepare them well.

Don’t be too persistent.

Safe careers are fine. But try to be a bit exploratory.

At least as Gedankenexperiment.

Florian Huber

Carta marina et descriptio septentrionalium terrarum, 1539

Make the map less foggy.

Talk to many people of different backgrounds and opinions.

Make a few small steps before you make a jump.

You can make jumps, but only few. Prepare them well.

Don’t be too persistent.

Safe careers are fine. But try to be a bit exploratory.

At least as Gedankenexperiment.

Make sure you develop.

Not learning new skills is a bad sign.

Florian Huber

Let’s stay in touch!

@me_datapoint

www.linkedin.com/in/f-huber

medium.com/every-day-a-datapoint

Florian Huber

www.esciencecenter.nl

@eScienceCenter